vanitas

American  

[van-i-tahs] / ˈvæn ɪˌtɑs /

noun

1. a type of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands from about 1620 to 1650, conveying a religious message and characterized by objects symbolic of mortality and the meaninglessness of worldly pleasures.

---

Etymology

Origin of vanitas

1905–10; Latin: literally, vanity

Example Sentences

Harnett had much simpler taste than his patrons, and while “Ease” is not a vanitas painting auguring death, he was known for incorporating traces of humor and irony in his paintings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Yet pronk works carried deeper meanings as the earliest forms of vanitas, a genre that uses symbolism to convey the brevity of life and futility of pleasure.

From Salon • Mar. 10, 2024

The modern vanitas also skewers the superficial and worldly, focusing on darker truths, insidious causes and structural failures.

From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022

These include bright, vivid self-portraits in which she’s surrounded by various animals; canvases devoted to wide-eyed felines; and a large-scale painting that resembles a tarot-inspired vanitas.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2021

Binnie burst into a loud guffaw, and cried out, "O vanitas vanitawtum!"

From The Newcomes Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family by Thackeray, William Makepeace